Spartan Rangers
The Rangers (of the Order, as extended in Metro Last Light), "Stalkers" in Slavic versions of the game and the Novel, and also known as Spartans (conversely, the Spartan Order), are a group of elite battle hardened soldiers that roam the wasteland, and are the video game's equivalent to stalkers. The rangers move individually or in small units helping settlements as well as fighting bandits, the Red Line, the Nazis, and mutants. They also appear to have strong ties to Polis. Overview The rangers maintain a permanent base located in a church on the surface, known as Sparta. The origin of the rangers are unknown, but some of the members may have been soldiers from the Russian Army or from the Russian Special Forces (Spetsnaz) before the 2013 apocalypse. They may as well have been mercenaries or some sort of other armed forces. Rangers seem to be greatly feared by the bandits, Reds, and Nazis alike. In the level "Dry", a conversation between a few bandits near the rails can be heard. One mentions how a lone ranger single handedly took out large groups of men and how nothing in the tunnels can stop them. The bandit also mentioned that they might not even be human because of their fighting skills. Ironically, upon questioning, the bandit reveals the group killed by a 'lone ranger' were outside Riga station - the bandit outpost taken down by Artyom when he was traveling with Bourbon. Metro 2033 Boris, one of The Rangers The first Ranger Artyom encounters during the course of his journey is his step-father's friend, Hunter. Hunter has come to Exhibition because of reports of telepathic mutants (the Dark Ones) attacking the station. He, Artyom, and Artyom's step-father, Alex, defend the entrance to the Hospital against several waves of nosalises. After the battle he leaves and tells Artyom that if he doesn't return to Exhibition, Artyom must deliver a message to Polis. He then hands Artyom his Ranger Token, an enameled dog tag, and tells him to find Miller in Polis. He never returns, and in the game's canon is presumed to be dead or missing. Artyom himself had been addressed as "Ranger" a couple of times during the game. The first took place in the Chapter "War" in the Frontlines level after rescuing three Red prisoners from being executed by the Nazis. The leader of the other two says his thanks and says "Thank you comrade. We heard there was a Ranger in the vicinity, good work". The second was in the level of "Child" after Artyom brings the little boy Sasha to his mother. Before Artyom walks to the surface, one of the soldiers bids him goodbye by saying "...good luck to you, Ranger". Artyom encounters many Rangers, and much evidence of their work along his jouney in the game. Hunter's message to another ranger named Red can be found near the end of Dead City 1. The message talks about heading to Exhibition with some heavy gear, to try and help fight against the coming threat (the dark ones). One man named Khan, who is affiliated with the rangers, guides Artyom to the Armory. Khan has a different outlook on the situation compared to that of the other rangers. He does not believe the Dark Ones, mutants, or anomalies are evil, they are just now what the world is, and that humanity should move on with them. The next group of rangers Artyom meets are Pavel and Ulman, who save Artyom from being executed by two Nazis. Ulman leaves the group while Pavel and Artyom head to Polis. Pavel does not survive the trip. Artyom meets up with Ulman later on and they reach Polis At Polis, Artyom meets Miller, the leader of the rangers. After failing to gain support from the Polis Council, Miller and Artyom decide to find D6. Miller, Artyom, and Danila head towards the library to find the location of D6. On the way, Danila is injured and must be taken back to Polis, and Miller leaves Artyom on his own to find the documents leading to D6. When Artyom leaves the library with the D6 dossier, he is confronted by a librarian, but before the Librarian could attack Artyom, Miller and Ulman showed up in an armored car, and run it over. They take Artyom to Sparta where Artyom meets the remainder of the rangers: Boris, Vladimir, Stepan, along with Khan and three unnamed rangers. Together the Rangers and Artyom travel to D6, and though citing a few casualties in their numbers, are able to get D6 functioning enough to send a missile to the Botanical Gardens. On the surface, Miller and Artyom encounter more Rangers, and they are all ambushed by watchers and demons. Barely making it out alive, the two make their way up Ostankino Tower where they launch the missiles at the Dark Ones. Metro Last Light In Metro: Last Light the Rangers (now known as The Spartan Order) have occupied D6 and fortified it into their new permanent base, though they do not have full control over the facility and many of the parts remain locked or unexplored. D6 is now more extensively shown, with the living quarters of the Rangers and Artyom, gyms, the armory, and mess hall. The Rangers now move about more quickly around the Metro, using the secret Metro-2 system for quick transport. While the Rangers pose as a key faction in Metro Last Light, they do not share in nearly as much action as they did in Metro 2033. The Rangers are depicted prominently early in the game, as the rightful holders of D6, as well as later in the game in Sparta Base, and as a party in the Polis peace conference; but the Rangers are featured most predominantly at the very end, in the battle for D6 against the Red Line. The game's two endings serve as the deciding fate of the Rangers. In the C'est la Vie ending, the overwhelmed Rangers are forced to sacrifice themselves as martyrs, and destroy D6 so that the Red Army inside cannot get their hands on samples of the Virus. Conversely, in the Redemption ending, the tides turn at the darkest moment, and instead of throwing the detonation switch, the Dark One appears with his kin and helps turn the tide of the battle for victory. Known Rangers *Artyom - The youngest and newest member, Artyom unofficially became a Ranger when Hunter gave him his first mission to get to Polis and find Miller. He was chosen for his natural fighting skill and marksmanship abilities. After finding D6 and wiping out the dark ones, Miller gave Artyom a Ranger badge on the spot *Miller - The colonel and leader of the rangers. *Ulman - A higher ranking Ranger Artyom meets him the most. Killed in Action in D6. *Hunter - Missing in Action - a friend of Alex, Artyom views him as a mentor. *Pavel - Killed in Action in the Depot. *Stepan - Killed in Action in the Caves. *Boris - Killed in Action in the Dungeon. *Vladimir - The technician of the rangers, and one of the veteran rangers. *Danila - A lower ranking Ranger who accompanies Artyom and Miller to the Library, but is injured on the way. *Captain Krasnov - A Ranger who works in Polis. He is only encountered once. *Anna - Daughter of Miller and top sniper of the Rangers. *Alex - D6 Airlock Guard, seen at the start of Metro Last Light *Tomilin - Squad Commander sent to help Hansa at the infected station during the events of Metro Last Light Rangers mentioned, but not seen *Red - Mentioned by Hunter in a hidden tape in English dub. *Ivan Petrovich - The guard captain of Polis. Mentioned by one of the soldiers at the airlock. *Ivan - Squad Leader at the Ranger meeting. *Romanov - Sole survivor of Swamp ambush. Found alone at the church base by the rescue squad. *Korneyev - High Ranking ranger stationed at D6. He is given the orders to set the bunker to self destruct. Trivia * In the novel Hunter described his order of stalkers (rangers) as "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_blood_cell leukocytes]" circling around Moscow's metro system. * In both the game and book series, it had been mentioned that the rangers are an "Order". They may or may not have been founded by Russian Special Forces personnel after the apocalypse. ** In Metro 2034 it's noted that the punishment for betraying "the Order" is considered to be "worse than death". * It is unclear if rangers have ranks - most of them never served in RF military. ** They mostly call each other by names, but sometimes Miller is called Colonel, which might be just a respectful moniker. * Rangers are equipped with best weapons and armor the metro can offer. Their arsenal at Sparta Base is quite extensive, containing "latest military equipment with outrageous costs in blood". * They are also known for using MGRs on their primary weapons, though in game Boris used dirty rounds on his VSV. * In the novel, when Artyom is being saved from the savage cannibals, several of the stalkers wore dark-brown trench coat, similar to Hunter's . This could be a way for the rangers to identify rank: ones with the trench coats are veterans, ones without could be new recruits. * In the live action short "Enter the Metro" the Ranger in the film looks more like how the stalkers are described in the novel, than the in-game model. * It appears the rangers allow those outside of the original military to serve in their ranks for example Ulman, who was ten when the world ended, and Artyom who was allowed in the rangers after helping Miller's squad with the Dark Ones. * Ranger armor can be purchased for an Xbox Live avatar for 320 Microsoft points. * Ranger clothing is actually quite poorly utilized - to the point of almost becoming ironic. During the time the surface was frozen, Rangers seem to be wearing faded woodland camo. When the snow is starting to melt and a lush green swamp starts to form, some Rangers are seen wearing Tundra or Arctic camo. Gallery To D6.jpg|The Rangers of Metro 2033 MLL Rangers D6 2.jpg MLL Rangers D6.jpg MLL D6 Armory.jpg MLL Ulman Profile.jpg MLL Miller Profile.jpg MLL Anna Profile.jpg MLL Rangers.jpg Metro header.jpg ArtyomLastLightCestLaVie.png MLL Rangers D6 4.jpg MLL Rangers D6 3.jpg MLL Alex D6 Guard.jpg MLL_Rangers_D6_5.jpg MLL_Rangers_D6_6.jpg Category:Factions